Review: Google Nexus 7 tablet

Google’s reference devices, the Nexus devices, have served as a great “bottom line” for the Android phone ecosystem. Essentially, there’s an expectation that the manufacturers that release devices after the Nexus device will do something to raise the bar. Google has also managed to press the state-of-the-art forward with each Nexus device.

Despite being pushed aside by superior hardware in whatever comes next, the Nexus devices are also the first to get the newest version of Android from Google. There’s a significant community surrounding the Nexus series, which is one of the biggest reasons the Google Nexus 7, the first Nexus tablet, has been so widely anticipated. Now that it is finally here, it’s important to observe the strengths and weaknesses of Google’s first tablet in order to better understand the product.

Hardware

Every bit of the Google Nexus 7 screams that this device was made for one very specific purpose. The Nexus 7 is the quintessential media consumption device. It is designed for enjoying content, not for being particularly productive.

The soft touch back feels almost like leather at first touch, and provides a great surface to grip the device. The bezel on the sides is just enough for you to rest your thumb without actually touching the screen, and is still thin enough that you can reach the entire keyboard with both hands in portrait mode. Google’s own specs page lists the device as having “Corning Glass”. When Corning unveiled Gorilla Glass 2 at CES in January, they mentioned that there were a number of their customers that for some reason were not interested in walking around as an advertisement for Corning’s brand. Surely the device has something like Gorilla glass on it, but it’s anyone’s guess as to which version of tough glass is covering the screen.

There are only three ports on the tablet, each of which are placed for multiple purposes in mind. The micro USB port is placed dead center of the device, which means you’ll be charging it while the device is in landscape mode. The micro USB port also supports USB host and USB to Ethernet connections, so if you’re really into getting more out of your device you can. The POGO pins on the bottom-left of the tablet and the headphone jack on the bottom-right sets it up perfectly for a dock that can be used for entertainment or with a Square reader. The power and volume controls on the top right of the device complete this landscape-friendly device, with the placement of the buttons out of the way of the most common ways that you would hold this device. In short, it is clear that this tablet was built to work in portrait, but also to be absolutely functional in landscape.

There’s nothing particularly ground-breaking about the hardware in the Nexus 7. All told, it’s a 0.75-pound, 7-inch Tegra 3 device with 1GB of RAM and a 4325mAh battery. The 1280×800 resolution screen isn’t anything exceptional, but it is certainly nice enough for looking at text and video. The tablet is completely sealed to the user, and you’ve got a choice between 8GB and 16GB for an extra $50. And remember: You don’t actually get 8GB of storage, because the OS has to fit on there. After you’ve installed your apps and used the tablet for a day or two you’ve really got more like 4GB of storage.

If you’re looking for a media storage device, you need to invest in something like a WiDrive, otherwise you are barking up the wrong tree. Even the 16GB model isn’t going to last you very long if you’re interested in storage. Unfortunately USB Host Mode only works for connecting devices like keyboards and game pads, not external storage. There’s no rear facing camera, and there’s no app for the front facing camera. You can install a third party app, or use the camera in a Hangout or a Skype session, but otherwise it’s not there.

Battery life will shift violently based on what you are doing with the device. For example, if you are reading or watching a movie with your screen brightness down a bit, you can easily get 10-12 hours out of the device. This is due in no small way to the “companion” core in the Tegra 3 processor, which the chipset spins down to when you aren’t doing much. If you are playing a graphically intensive game with the brightness up, that Tegra 3 will eat all 4000+mAh of that battery in 3-4 hours. Even a day of consistent use without gaming, where you’re browsing and watching videos and such will easily get you 8-10 hours.

Software

Since it is a Nexus device, the Google Nexus 7 is running Android 4.1, the latest version of the operating system. This is the first 7-inch Android tablet I have held that has a stock version of Android on it, and it is curiously different in some areas than the 10-inch and 4-inch implementations of the Android UI. The larger UI, for example, combines the notification and system tray on the bottom right hand corner of the device with the software buttons. The 7-inch interface returns the notification and system access to the top of the device in the same window shade style action as the phone. You can pull down the shade at just about any point of the OS, even when inside fullscreen apps, and not have it affect the app you are in. This is especially useful if you get a notification during a movie, since you don’t have to stop the movie or leave the app to see the notification.

Every part of the Jelly Bean interface has been optimized for the 7-inch form factor, with a single glaring exception: neither the home screen nor the app launcher seem aware of landscape mode at all. Every other bit of the OS will function in landscape mode. In fact, even the software buttons will move, floating across the bottom of the device when the UI rotates to landscape. Despite this, the homescreen and the launcher do not rotate, and require that you move the device back to portrait in order to use it. Considering how well designed the tablet is for landscape, this seems like a mistake that will be resolved in many cases simply by installing a custom launcher from the Play Store.

As far as performance goes, you aren’t likely to make the Nexus 7 stutter or stammer. It has handled everything I have thrown at it like a champ, and the visual enhancements in Android 4.1’s “Project Butter” really shine. The tablet is a shining example of how a tablet running Android should look and feel. Even Chrome, having come out of beta at the same time that Android 4.1 was released, handles multiple pages and complicated websites with ease. As long as you are connected to the Internet, the Nexus 7 feels like it can do anything.

Final Thoughts

Every time I write the words “it’s a great tablet, for the price” I feel like I’m doing the Nexus 7 a great injustice. The fact that the 7 has a $200 price tag is a feature, not a measuring point for quality. The buid of this device is superior to what most Android OEMs are producing right now, the components are fantastic, it has great battery life, and the OS feels like it was built for this tablet. Google has plans to put this device online, in stores, and I am sure we are only about a week or two away from seeing TV and online ads for the device. Google is going to make this tablet known to the world, and when that happens it is important that it not be seen as a device that is good “for the price”.

The question that should be asked when a consumer sees this device is “is the iPad worth two and a half of this tablet?” In my opinion, the answer is no, and I think that will cause this device to be a powerful asset for Google to wield into the holiday season. If Google can market it correctly the Nexus 7 could be the first Android tablet to give Google some real market share in the tablet space. It’s not an “iPad killer” by any stretch, but it certainly gives someone who doesn’t want a 10-inch tablet an alternative that worth looking at. And we’re pretty sure this is only the start of Google’s Nexus tablet goals…